A contentious proposal to build a Muslim cemetery in a Massachusetts town has cleared an important hurdle with approval from the community's zoning board.

The Telegram & Gazette reports that Dudley's Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday approved the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester's plan to develop a cemetery on 55 acres of former farmland under conditions.

The conditions attached to the board's special permit include a 10-year moratorium on expansion beyond an initial 6-acre cemetery; a vegetated buffer zone; and properly landscaped maintenance.